Perfume

We've all had these experiences before;

  Walking through a department store, you pass the make up department and are bombarded by a wave of perfumes. 
 You sit down in a dark movie theatre and kick up your feet, only to have some man sit behind you who is apparently quite fond of his Old Spice. 
 You hug a distant relative you haven't seen in years, only to have a bit of them literally rub off on you, and you carry them with you... until you change clothes.

Lets face it, perfume can be offensive.  I don't wear it very often, and when I do, I have to put it on the back of my neck as to avoid despising it in a matter of minutes and having to scrub it off.  I am one of those people who smells everything.  EVERYTHING.  So I can be a good 30 yards from a perfumed offender and know they are coming.  I have a head ache just thinking about it.

But then, thinking about it, I am reminded of a perfume that may not have been so offensive.  One that, if I could smell it, may be life changing.

"Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, there came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat to dinner.  But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying "to what purpose is this waste? For this ointment might have been sold for much money and given to the poor." 
When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, "Why do you trouble this woman?  for she has done a good work unto me.  You will have the poor with you always, but me you have not always.  For in that she has poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial.  Truly I say unto you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the whole world, this also that she has done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her."

Can you imagine that?  I have a little perfume on my wrists right now.  Just a tiny dab, yet I can smell it while I type.  This woman poured an entire container of very strong (and apparently expensive) perfumed oil on Christ's head...right there at the dinner table.  Our perfumes are mostly water and alcohol based, but the perfumes in that time were oils.  Oils stay in the skin, saturating it.  And she poured it out.  On his head.  
All of it.  
Our Lord, the Christ, was sitting down for dinner and in walks this woman with a box.  Did he stop her and tell her to wait until an appropriate time?  Nope.  He let her lavish what was probably her most treasured and prized possession upon Him.  He allowed her to pour every last drop of that perfumed oil onto His head, through His hair and down his neck and arms.  He knew what she was doing.


She was making a sacrifice to honor His sacrifice.

"...she has done what she could do; she has come beforehand to anoint my body for burial."

The fragrance would have been overwhelming.  My nostrils burn when I walk through the department store.  Can you imagine what He would have smelled like at that very moment?  
Can you imagine what He would have smelled like less than 48 hours later?

Have you ever noticed that when you wear perfume and you get hot, the smell intensifies?  Let it sink in.
Put yourself there, on one of the streets of Jerusalem.  Crowded, loud, people pushing to catch a glimpse of the accused carrying His cross to His death.  You can get close enough to see but surely, like me, you would close your eyes in horror, not able to view something so horrid.  

But then you smell it.

The perfume.

"Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.  And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma."     Eph 5

Thank you Lord, for perfume.  

Remind me always.
 




 

 
 

Funnies ...

The kids were arguing.  Imagine that.  So I say to Sarah, "will you please be the peace maker?". 
She responds "Why do I need to be a peace maker?"

So I quote James, "the gift of righteousness is sown in the peace of those who make peace, so it seems that God grants righteousness to you if you are a peace maker."

Madelyn says, "We have to eat our peas?"

Guess whats on the menu tonight.

The Daisy Chronicles.

So as I mentioned in an earlier post, we got a puppy for Christmas.  We went and lost our Christmas minds and got a puppy.  SHE is the sole reason I haven't posted anything since.  I don't have the time to sit down without having to stop her from doing something she isn't supposed to be doing (i.e. chewing the banister, chewing the carpet, chewing the cabinets, chewing a HOLE IN THE MIDDLE OF OUR COUCH.)  I am really hoping that I don't end up with a "Marley and Me" sort of experience with this dog.  Basically, Im still just trying to like her.  The kids of course love her.  Steven says that he doesn't, but I know secretly he can't wait to come home and play with her everyday.  She absolutely adores him. 
She    adores    HIM.
Not the hand that feeds her.  Not the person who wipes her behind like an infant because she gets distracted by passing cars while she's doing her "business" and sits in it.  Not the person who takes her for walks and buys her toys. 
She adores him.

I've got to let that go.  Ive heard it said that dogs read your "energy" and feed off of it.  If you're stressed, they get stressed, if you're excited they get excited, blah blah blah.  I'm telling you right now, I don't care who says that dogs don't have human emotions, they absolutely do.  And I know this because my doggy doesn't get nervous or stressed when Im stressed.  SHE gets sassy the second I sit down to do something.  If Im up and about, she is naughty and gets in things, but it's when I sit to either eat lunch or read or do my bible study that she gets her sass on.  She looks at me and barks. 
Its not the cute bark, where the tail wags and they want to play.  No, this is a hair standing up on her back, head tilted to the side, all bowed up at me bark.  And what does she do when I stand up?  She runs.

Im getting furious just writing about it. 

She is totally being an adolescent brat, and I am clearly not ready for it.  Maybe this is God's way of preparing me for my daughters pre-teen years?            

Pray for me.

So if any of you who know and love me call me up in the middle of the day and catch a strange tone in my voice, please know that it isn't your fault that I sound like Im about to snap.
  It's Daisy's.

 

Wiiiiiiiiii

They finally got around to playing the Wii.  Trust me, it brings out the worst in all of them.

At least Daisy brings out the best in them!

In the Christmas Spirit

It seems that people do strange things during the holidays, like eating chocolate covered cherries, wearing sequins to parties and singing in public.  Apparently, they also buy puppies when they have sworn that they have no desire to own a dog of any sort. 

With that being said,  I proudly introduce the newest member of the Scarcliff family, Miss Daisy May Scarcliff, aka Daisy Head Maisy.

We have absolutely lost our minds.  But she's cute, isn't she?

A few of my favorite things...

• Hot chocolate WITH marshmallows.  Without it, seriously, why bother?
• Lights.  Lots and lots of lights.  But even more than the lights themselves is getting to experience my sweet husband turn into Clark Griswold in the front yard, semi-cursing and trying relentlessly to get each and every bulb to work.  Oh the laughs I had at his expense this year :)
•  The smell of the Christmas tree.  Sure its a pagan tradition, but its awesome, and it smells great.  And since God made trees, I don't see the problem.
• Cream cheese.  I mean, is there anything better?  And it seems to be in everything during the holidays.  The more the merrier.  Who cares if its not REALLY cheese?  Processed or not, its delicious, and I love it.
• Did I mention chocolate?  
• A wood burning fireplace.  I absolutely LOVE watching a fire burn.  Its mezmorizing, and the smell is great too.
• Christmas sweaters.  Still.  
• Christmas carols.  Except for the sad ones and the one about meeting the old girlfriend at the gas station and buying beer.  Its stupid, doesn't sound good and it makes me furious.  I don't know why really, but I swear I want to punch someone everytime I hear it.
• Crafts that the kids make.  They are "snow adorable".  Ah ha, ah ha.
• Not having to dust the furniture.  Everything in our living room is covered in some type of Christmas decor.  I am having a blast NOT dusting all of it.  
• Shopping.  Its fun. 
• My Christmas village.  I want to be transported to that tiny world.  Everyone there is smiling and happy.  There don't seem to be any women with buggies full of toys trampeling down the isles and huffing because you're standing in the way.  I mean, there might be those types there, but I bet at that size I could do more than just attack them with vicious rhetoric.  
• Movies.  I have watched some pretty lame movies, but they're great because its Christmas.  Im sure that they will once again become lame on December 26.
• Time with my kiddos.  Im looking forward to them being out of school.  I loved the summer, having them wake me up in the morning, so I know I will enjoy them being home during the holidays.

• And last but not least, time with the hubby.  We drink hot chocolate, enjoy the crackling fire and snuggle.  Its dreamy :)

All is right with the world...

The birds are singing.

Wrongs have been righted.

Men and women world wide are merry with joy.

It is as it should be...

Alabama is going to the BCS National Championship,

AGAIN.